Strong interactions of metal-support for efficient reduction of carbon dioxide into ethylene

Abstract

Electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into high value-added fuels and chemicals with excellent efficiency is an attractive but challenging route to alleviate energy crisis and environmental pollution. Here, the hollow Cu/CeO 2 nanotubes synthesized via the self-templated method display a high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 78.3% for the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 into ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) in flow cell at a low applied potential of −0.7 V vs. RHE. The high reduction efficiency of Cu/CeO 2 nanotubes catalyst can be attributed to the synergistic effects from the formation of inseparable interface structure between Cu and CeO 2 , which enhance the effective adsorption of intermediates. More importantly, the Cu/CeO 2 nanotubes catalyst also exhibits excellent performance (FE(C 2 H 4 ) of 65.5%) in the solar-driven overall CO 2 splitting reaction with a conversion efficiency of 4.2%. The results demonstrate the rational regulation of metal-support interactions for improving electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction into multicarbon (C 2+ ) products. Cu/CeO 2 nanotubes with inseparable interface structure endow a high faradaic efficiency for electrocatalytic reduction CO 2 into C 2 H 4 via the rational regulation of metal-support interaction, which also enable the sustainable applications in solar-driven overall CO 2 splitting. • The scaffolding process enables the formation of inseparable interface structure. • Such unique structure facilitates the electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into ethylene. • The enhanced performance endows a high solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency for overall CO 2 splitting.